How many trees should we plant and where? Modelling the landscape-level benefits and biodiversity consequences of woodland creation.
Lead Research Organisation:
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Department Name: Biodiversity (Wallingford)
Abstract
This proposal is for a Research Translation Fellowship.
Woodland creation can bring many benefits. It can help draw down and store carbon from the atmosphere, it can help reduce flooding and it can provide us with opportunities for recreation. However, woodland creation also has big consequences for biodiversity and these are not always positive. While woodland species can benefit from the increase in habitat and connectivity that tree planting brings, other species that rely on the wide open spaces provided by grasslands, moorlands and other habitats will be negatively affected. Woodland cannot provide the resources these open-habitat species need; it may in fact increase habitat for their predators and cause loss of connectivity for such species. Woodland habitat is therefore beneficial for some species and not for others.
Our government has pledged to increase tree planting and there is an urgent need for tools to inform where these trees should be planted. Crucially, such tools must allow us to identify locations where woodland creation will maximise ecosystem benefits to people (e.g. carbon storage, water retention, crop pollination) while still balancing the needs of species with different habitat requirements. This requires coupling water/carbon storage models to biodiversity models - something which is rarely done - and building realistic biodiversity models that reflect the way multiple species with different habitat requirements move around the landscape. Existing biodiversity metrics are too simplistic and cannot capture this.
This project will build a state-of-the-art biodiversity model that simulates the daily foraging movements of six representative species groups of conservation concern (including woodland birds, farmland birds, hedgehogs, amphibians, bumblebees). Together, these chosen groups span a range of habitat/mobility requirements and responses to woodland creation. The biodiversity model will be parameterised and validated using literature and citizen science datasets, and co-developed alongside two NGO species advocates (British Trust for Ornithology; Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK), to ensure that it realistically represents the needs of species. This biodiversity model will then be coupled to water and carbon storage models developed at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. The combined model will be capable of assessing synergies/trade-offs between four ecosystem services (water yield, carbon storage, pollination and natural pest control) alongside the needs of six contrasting species groups of high conservation concern.
The model will be used to assess the benefits and biodiversity consequences of woodland creation in real landscapes. Project stakeholders will select five case study areas where they are currently working with local authorities, organisations and landowners to deliver Nature Recovery Networks and ecosystem service provision. The model will be used to virtually trial different woodland creation scenarios and identify options which maximise benefits for people and wildlife. This will provide specific woodland creation recommendations for these study areas.
Novel mathematical techniques will then be applied to derive general overarching woodland creation guidelines from the study area trials, which can be applied in other similar situations. Close working alongside project stakeholders and a communications expert will ensure these are translated into accessible formats for decision-makers and practitioners. Finally, a user-friendly online version of the model will be co-produced with project stakeholders, so enabling these stakeholders (and others) to continue using the tool to support decision-making after the project finishes.
Woodland creation can bring many benefits. It can help draw down and store carbon from the atmosphere, it can help reduce flooding and it can provide us with opportunities for recreation. However, woodland creation also has big consequences for biodiversity and these are not always positive. While woodland species can benefit from the increase in habitat and connectivity that tree planting brings, other species that rely on the wide open spaces provided by grasslands, moorlands and other habitats will be negatively affected. Woodland cannot provide the resources these open-habitat species need; it may in fact increase habitat for their predators and cause loss of connectivity for such species. Woodland habitat is therefore beneficial for some species and not for others.
Our government has pledged to increase tree planting and there is an urgent need for tools to inform where these trees should be planted. Crucially, such tools must allow us to identify locations where woodland creation will maximise ecosystem benefits to people (e.g. carbon storage, water retention, crop pollination) while still balancing the needs of species with different habitat requirements. This requires coupling water/carbon storage models to biodiversity models - something which is rarely done - and building realistic biodiversity models that reflect the way multiple species with different habitat requirements move around the landscape. Existing biodiversity metrics are too simplistic and cannot capture this.
This project will build a state-of-the-art biodiversity model that simulates the daily foraging movements of six representative species groups of conservation concern (including woodland birds, farmland birds, hedgehogs, amphibians, bumblebees). Together, these chosen groups span a range of habitat/mobility requirements and responses to woodland creation. The biodiversity model will be parameterised and validated using literature and citizen science datasets, and co-developed alongside two NGO species advocates (British Trust for Ornithology; Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK), to ensure that it realistically represents the needs of species. This biodiversity model will then be coupled to water and carbon storage models developed at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. The combined model will be capable of assessing synergies/trade-offs between four ecosystem services (water yield, carbon storage, pollination and natural pest control) alongside the needs of six contrasting species groups of high conservation concern.
The model will be used to assess the benefits and biodiversity consequences of woodland creation in real landscapes. Project stakeholders will select five case study areas where they are currently working with local authorities, organisations and landowners to deliver Nature Recovery Networks and ecosystem service provision. The model will be used to virtually trial different woodland creation scenarios and identify options which maximise benefits for people and wildlife. This will provide specific woodland creation recommendations for these study areas.
Novel mathematical techniques will then be applied to derive general overarching woodland creation guidelines from the study area trials, which can be applied in other similar situations. Close working alongside project stakeholders and a communications expert will ensure these are translated into accessible formats for decision-makers and practitioners. Finally, a user-friendly online version of the model will be co-produced with project stakeholders, so enabling these stakeholders (and others) to continue using the tool to support decision-making after the project finishes.
Organisations
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- British Trust for Ornithology (Collaboration)
- United Kingdom Research and Innovation (Collaboration)
- Woodland Trust (Collaboration)
- Bat Conservation Trust (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Emma Gardner (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Blaydes H
(2022)
Solar park management and design to boost bumble bee populations
in Environmental Research Letters
Cole B
(2023)
Using a multi-lens framework for landscape decisions
in People and Nature
Gardner, E
(2022)
Why biodiversity net gain requires an ecological permission system
in Town and Country Planning Association Journal
Image M
(2022)
Does agri-environment scheme participation in England increase pollinator populations and crop pollination services?
in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
Image M
(2022)
Which interventions contribute most to the net effect of England's agri-environment schemes on pollination services?
in Landscape Ecology
| Title | Four Co-created Poems |
| Description | Four poems co-created with a professional poet designed to help members of the public see landscapes from the point of view of other species and the movement challenges they face in our modern world. The poems were premiered at the IF Oxford Festival of Science and Ideas during the online event 'Freedom of Movement: How do animals get around in the modern world' and the performance of them remains available to view on-demand and free to watch online. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Feedback from audience members at the live performance of the poems indicated they had genuinely altered people's understanding and appreciation of the conservation challenges their featured species face. |
| URL | https://if-oxford.com/event/freedom-of-movement/ |
| Title | Freedom of Movement: How do animals get around in our modern world? |
| Description | Online, free to watch, video recording of the 2hr, online, interactive public engagement event I co-produced with the IF Oxford Festival of Science and Ideas, which I presented to a live audience on 22nd October 2021. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | This creative product has received 70 views to date (12/01/2022), in addition to the live performance being attended by 32 participants. It forged new, or strengthened existing, collaborative partnerships with three local writers, three local conservationists and two research fellows within the Landscape Decisions Programme. It produced five creative outputs in the form of four co-produced poems and a co-produced interactive story. Feedback from live event participants (members of the general public) indicated genuine changes in understanding around the consequences of landscape decisions as a result of the content shared in this product. |
| URL | https://if-oxford.com/event/freedom-of-movement/ |
| Title | Planning Healthy Habitats Video |
| Description | Video featuring our collaborative research on the biodiversity consequences of Biodiversity Net Gain policies. The research was conducted by Emma Gardner, Adam Sheppard and James Bullock and was published in the Town and Country Planning Association journal in Nov/Dec 2022. The video showcasing some of the findings and featuring Emma Gardner and Adam Sheppard was made in collaboration with the NERC Landscape Decisions Programme Co-ordination Team, the Royal Town Planning Institute and Content With Purpose. The video was part of the Royal Town Planning Institute's digital series 'Planning for Tomorrow's Environment' which explores the role of planning in tackling climate change and paving the way to a sustainable future. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The video is available to view on the webpage: https://planningfortomorrow.rtpi.org.uk/series_partners/landscape-decisions-programme/ Clips from the video were shown during an event on 8th November 2022 at the Barbican Theatre (London, UK). This event launched the Royal Town Planning Institute's 'Planning for Tomorrow's Environment' series and the clips shown are hosted on the webpage: https://www.rtpi.org.uk/news/2022/november/rtpi-digital-series-champions-the-power-of-planning-for-a-sustainable-future/ The event was attended by professional planners, the Chair of the Planning Officers Society Board, the Chair of the Commonwealth Association of Planners Young Planners Network and Co-Chair of the UN-Habitat Planners for Climate Action Initiative, as well as representatives from Exeter City Futures, Energiesprong UK, Atkins, the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, Chapman Taylor Architects, the Landscape Decisions Programme, Ramboll, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at UWE Bristol, and Wates Developments (part of the Wates Group). |
| URL | https://planningfortomorrow.rtpi.org.uk/series_partners/landscape-decisions-programme/ |
| Title | The Waste Ground |
| Description | An interactive story co-created with a professional writer designed to allow the audience to creatively and imaginatively explore the need to balance conflicting priorities in landscape decision-making processes and the consequences of those landscape-decisions on both people and other species. The story was premiered at the IF Oxford Festival of Science and Ideas during the online event 'Freedom of Movement: How do animals get around in the modern world' and the performance of the story remains available to view on-demand and free to watch online. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Audience members revised the views on the imagined landscape decision as the story progressed and feedback indicated participants (members of the general public) had been inspired to participate more in real-world decision-making processes as a result. |
| URL | https://if-oxford.com/event/freedom-of-movement/ |
| Description | This award is still active and the project not yet complete. However, the most significant achievements and findings so far are listed below. Biodiversity modelling: - This project has brought together current understanding of species' needs to co-develop a suite of process-based computer models (*4pop models) that simulate how different species use landscapes. - We have built models that simulate woodland specialist birds, woodland generalist birds, hedge-nesting farmland birds, open-nesting farmland birds (specifically skylark), common pipistrelle bat, common lizard and common toad. These species have very different habitat requirements, movement ranges and life histories. - The models simulate the foraging and population processes of these species to predict their relative abundance and distribution across a given landscape (i.e. how many individuals of that species would be living in the landscape and where would they be spending their time). - Development of the models brought together different knowledge-holders, including researchers, NGOs and conservation volunteers. The models were co-developed with the British Trust for Ornithology, Bat Conservation Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK), Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group (SARG) and Froglife, with input from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Herpetologic and researchers from Kent University, Deakin University and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. - The models are able to draw on both remote-sensed and on-the-ground habitat data and they combine different forms of knowledge on species, including literature data and empirical measurements from scientific studies, expert opinion data on species' habitat usage, and species observations collected from both nationally standardised and grass-roots monitoring schemes. - The models have been used to predict relative abundance of species across Great Britain and their outputs have been compared to real-world species observations to check that their predictions are reliable. - The models are now being converted into an accessible online tool to enable people to view their predictions for species activity across Great Britain. We have worked with potential end-users of the biodiversity models to: - identify key factors that limit our ability to model species and predict where they would be living in landscapes, e.g. due to the micro-habitats the species relies on not being well mapped. - assess the models' ability to help local authorities, NGOs, consultants and community groups identify where species might be active in different landscapes, the habitat resources those species may be using and assess potential impacts of land-use changes (habitat creation and loss) on those species. - gather feedback on how the accuracy, usefulness and functionality of the models can be improved to increase their ability to support real-world decision-making that impacts biodiversity. We have also collaborated with researchers in other disciplines to examine how biodiversity is represented in human decision-making more generally, including: - exploring the possibilities and limitations of different types of biodiversity models for representing the interests of other species in studies that use computational techniques to identify optimum landcover/land-use configurations. - exploring the extent to which other species' interests may/may not be represented by incoming environmental policies such as Biodiversity Net Gain and how the representation of other species' interests in the current planning system might be improved to better support multi-species placemaking. - examining how the value systems and knowledge forms ('lenses') used by decision-makers may affect their ability to make land-use decisions that support biodiversity. We have also worked with creative professionals and writers to explore how narrative techniques (poetry, comedy and storytelling) can provide a powerful complement to computer models, in terms of helping people to see landscapes from the point of view of other species. We showed how these empathetic approaches can strongly influence community decisions around where new woodland might be created, by helping decision-makers better understand and take into account the needs of woodland-dependent, multi-habitat and woodland-averse species. The three key findings from this work so far are that: - process-based biodiversity models plug a significant gap in terms of biodiversity modelling because they can help people understand how species are expected to be using habitats across a landscape at fine spatial scales (meters, compared to purely data-driven species distribution models which are limited to 1km resolution) and because they can predict how species might colonise new habitat patches over time. There is therefore a big demand from practitioners and policy-makers to have increased access to such models to inform on-the-ground decision-making and policy development. - one of the biggest factors limiting our ability to model species abundance and distributions is lack of detailed mapping data on what landcover/land-use/habitats are present in the landscape and where. Our current mapping data misses many important habitats/habitat features because either i. they occur in small patches and the spatial resolution of the mapping data is too coarse to detect them, or ii. the mapping data has too few landcover/land-use/habitat classes and so doesn't capture all the distinctions of importance to species (e.g. grassland sward height is very important for many species but current mapping datasets rarely distinguish grasslands by sward height). These problems arise through our mapping data being dominated by remote sensed datasets, which are ultimately limited in their ability to detect and distinguish habitats, and it emphasises how important it is to complement these with landcover/land-use/habitat data collected on the ground in order to have sufficiently detailed datasets to model biodiversity well. - during decision-making processes, it is essential to complement information from biodiversity modelling with other knowledge sources, including on-the-ground observations/records, local ecological knowledge and narrative/qualitative information, to ensure that decision-makers can combine the expected species responses predicted by the model with place-specific information on how species are actually observed to behave and respond in that locality in reality. This variety of information, including both computer modelled and storied information, can help human decision-makers to better understand and empathise with the experiences of other species and so take their needs into account within their decision-making processes. |
| Exploitation Route | The suite of biodiversity models can be expanded further to simulate a wider range of species. This could be done by further collaborations between researchers and knowledge-holders such as NGOs, land managers and community groups who hold key knowledge on how species interact with landscapes. The biodiversity models can be used to assess impacts of proposed land-use changes on species abundance and distributions. This could be done through collaborations between researchers, policy-makers and policy-implementers, or through collaborations with community groups, consultants or species advocates who are interested to explore the biodiversity consequences of land-use changes within a specific area. By simulating ecological processes such as foraging and dispersal, the biodiversity models can be taken forward by researchers to explore in detail the spatio-temporal dynamics and community composition changes that occur when landscapes change over time, either due to habitat loss or habitat restoration. The decision-making frameworks, biodiversity models and creative techniques together offer a package of approaches that can help human stakeholders in a given area to better understand the needs/experiences of other species. Communities and other place-based stakeholder groups could therefore take forward this combination of approaches to explore whether it can help support decision-making that better accounts for the needs of biodiversity alongside human needs and, potentially facilitated by researchers, identify which of the approaches are most useful/feasible in different situations. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Creative Economy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | The findings have been used to: - help ecologists, conservation NGOs, local conservation groups and local communities assess the impacts of proposed land-use changes and habitat loss on species abundance and distributions. - help ecologists, conservation NGOs, local authorities and charitable businesses identify suitable locations for creating new habitats. - provide information that can assist in the design and creation of Nature Recovery Networks. - help government departments, local authorities and consultants to calculate metrics representing relative abundance of species, ecosystem service provision and 'natural capital'. - help NGOs and their citizen scientists identify areas where habitat resources are available and where species might be present so that they can then target which areas to survey in order to gather new species records, identify previously unknown populations and arrange management plans with local stakeholders so those newly discovered populations can be protected. - generate content for outreach materials that conservation NGOs can then use to engage land managers in nature-positive activities and reduce risk of accidental harm to species. - provide material for interactive public engagement events to increase public awareness of how biodiversity is affected by land-use changes and to help the public explore ways to take the needs of other species into account in landscape decision-making. - help local community groups to better understand the needs of local species, the changes being made to the UK's environmental policy environment and how species might be affected by these incoming environmental policies. - help local community groups to identify ways in which they could represent local species' interests within local decision-making processes and in the context of incoming environmental policies. By providing training in how to interpret/use this project's models, model outputs, decision-making frameworks and creative approaches, this project has provided local authorities, NGOs, ecologists, consultants and community groups with additional information/techniques to help them more effectively represent the interests of non-human species in UK landscape decision-making. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Policy & public services |
| Description | Adaptation of poll4pop model for use by Office for National Statistic |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Description | Best Practice Guidance for Farmers for Supporting Toad Populations in Rural Areas |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Description | Consultation on Biodiversity Net Gain Regulations and Implementation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://consult.defra.gov.uk/defra-net-gain-consultation-team/consultation-on-biodiversity-net-gain-... |
| Description | Consultation on Environmental Targets |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://consult.defra.gov.uk/natural-environment-policy/consultation-on-environmental-targets/ |
| Description | Land Use in England Inquiry Call for Evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/2588 |
| Description | Presentation to APSE Southern Region Parks & Open Spaces Advisory Group |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/index.cfm/members-area/regions/southern/advisory-groups-and-events/ |
| Description | Provided poll4pop model and training in its use to Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Staff of Hampshire County Council's Biodiversity Information Centre received training in the use of poll4pop to enable them to run the model using their own input habitat datasets to obtain yearly predictions of pollination service and pollinator natural capital in their region. |
| Description | Provided poll4pop model and training in its use to NCS |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Staff of NCS received training in the use of poll4pop to enable them to run the model on areas of interest to their clients (their clients include local authorities, not-for-profit organisations, local businesses etc.), enabling them to make recommendations to those clients around how proposed landscape changes may affect pollinators and pollination services. |
| URL | https://www.naturalcapitalsolutions.co.uk/ |
| Description | Provided training on the use, interpretation and visualisation of model predictions |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The training on use, interpretation and visualisation of model predictions enables ARG UK staff/volunteers to 1. cascade these skills within their organisations, and 2. use these skills to share our joint research findings more effectively with land managers and on-the-ground conservation volunteers to improve land management and conservation outcomes. |
| Description | Provision of model predictions to help assess proposed land-use change impacts on common lizard in Buckinghamshire |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The local authority ecologists combined the model predictions with local records of common lizard sightings to help them better assess the potential impacts of proposed land-use changes on local reptile populations. They also used the data and maps output by the model to help them discuss these potential consequences with other external ecologists involved in the decision-making process. Feedback from the local authority ecologists included: 'the most helpful to me was the prediction where the species will likely be', 'colleagues were wondering if the model will extend to cover other species in the future', and 'really looking forward for the model's release so we can use it for all sites where these species are found'. The local authority ecologists also asked if we could add extra functionality to the model so that it can take into account the impact of pets on wild species and we have now placed that at the top of our list of future model improvements to be done as soon as time/funds become available. |
| Description | Provision of model predictions to inform conservation of common lizard in Northern Ireland |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Description | Provision of model predictions to inform conservation of common toads in Nidderdale AONB |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Project Officer now has additional information for assessing likelihood that areas are supporting common toad populations. |
| URL | https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/saving-nidderdales-priority-ponds/ |
| Description | Provision of model predictions to inform habitat creation for common toads on Chester Zoo's estate |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Having provided maps of the model's predictions for current common toad distribution and habitat provision on Chester Zoo's estate, Chester zoo's Habitat Creation Co-ordinator reported that they had: • 'used the maps to identify the areas across the estate where delivering pond restorations would have the most benefit.' • 'restored four ponds with breeding toads in mind, and are hoping to create two brand new ponds.' They reported that 'anecdotally, the model does reflect where we would expect to find toads but this is hard to clarify. There is one area in particular that has a large cluster of ponds, all of which have toad presence, but a low foragingresources score. On the other hand, some areas that have a high foragingresources/foragingfemales score have no ponds, so no presence has been recorded. This does mean we can identify where to improve terrestrial habitat, and where we need to create more ponds though.' |
| Description | Provision of model predictions to inform local toad conservation actions in England |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Froglife's volunteers have gained additional information and insights with which to inform their local conservation actions, which aim to improve the sustainability of individual toad populations. |
| Description | Training Session on Bee Ecology, Pollinator Natural Capital and Poll4pop model for staff of Office for National Statistics |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Knowledge exchange increased staff understanding of bee ecology and the latest research on pollinator natural capital concepts, as well as providing training to enable them to use poll4pop model to improve the Office for National Statistics Pollinator Natural Capital Accounting processes. |
| Description | Public Engagement Grant |
| Amount | £1,750 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2021 |
| End | 10/2021 |
| Title | Expert Opinion Questionnaire to Collect Information on Habitat Use by Mobile Species |
| Description | Questionnaire elicits information on the level of use of 77 different habitat types, where the chosen habitat types are based on current and emerging remote-sensed spatial datasets available in the UK, as well as habitat distinctions meaningful to species of conservation concern that are discernable by on-the-ground surveyors. The questionnaire also enables habitats to be assigned separate scores for different types of use, e.g. used for nesting/breeding vs used for foraging. It is designed to capture information on habitat use by mobile species and has been adapted and used to collect expert opinion information on habitat use by birds, bats, amphibians and reptiles. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The expert scores elicited via these questionnaires were used to parameterise process-based models that simulate how mobile species use landscapes. These models were subsequently validated against observed species abundances and habitat use and have since been used to predict impacts of proposed land-use changes on species abundance, distribution and survival chances. |
| Title | Amph4pop |
| Description | Amph4popis a process-based model that simulates the foraging and population processes of amphibians to predicted spatially-explicit amphibian abundance and foraging distributions for a given input landscape using a combination of expert-derived habitat use scores and literature estimates for reproductivity, survival and movement ranges. The model is currently parameterised for common toad and its predictions have been validated against statistics on toad habitat use collected from Froglife's Toad Patrols via the Toad Patroller Survey. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The model has already been used to quantify impacts of proposed land-use changes on common toad populations, as part of real-world applications requested by project partners Froglife and ARG UK, and to target citizen science survey effort towards areas predicted to host common toads, as part of real-world applications requested by local authority staff in Nidderdale AONB (North Yorks, UK). Currently preparing an academic paper for publication which will present the model and its validation and which will link to a repository where the model will be freely available for others to download and use. |
| Title | Bat4pop |
| Description | Bat4pop is a process-based model that simulates the foraging and population processes of bats to predicted spatially-explicit bat abundance and foraging distributions for a given input landscape using a combination of expert-derived habitat use scores and literature estimates for reproductivity, survival and movement ranges. The model is currently parameterised for common pipistrelle and its predictions have been validated against observed bat abundances recorded through the BCT's National Bat Monitoring Programme's Field Survey. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The Bat4pop model predictions are being used by the Bat Conservation Trust to check the assumptions underlying the analysis procedures they use to derive national bat population trends from citizen science survey data collected through the National Bat Monitoring Programme's Field Survey. Currently preparing an academic paper for publication which will present the model and its validation and which will link to a repository where the model will be freely available for others to download and use. |
| Title | Bird4pop |
| Description | Bird4pop is a process-based model that simulates the foraging and population processes of birds to predicted spatially-explicit bird abundance and foraging distributions for a given input landscape using a combination of expert-derived habitat use scores and literature estimates for reproductivity, survival and movement ranges. The model is currently parameterised for woodland specialist birds, woodland generalist birds, small farmland passerines and skylark. Its predictions have been validated against observed bird abundances recorded through the BTO's Breeding Bird Survey. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Currently preparing an academic paper for publication which will present the model and its validation and which will link to a repository where the model will be freely available for others to download and use. |
| Title | Expert Opinion Habitat Use Scores for Amphibians |
| Description | Dataset consists of expert opinion scores for breeding and foraging habitat quality for 77 different UK habitat types for two amphibians (common toad, great crested newt), collected in order to parameterise the Amph4pop model. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset was used to parameterise the model Amph4pop, which currently simulates common toad foraging and population processes to predict spatially-explicit common toad abundance and distribution for a given input landscape. The model has already been used to quantify impacts of proposed land-use changes on common toad populations, as part of real-world applications requested by project partners Froglife and ARG UK, and to target citizen science survey effort towards areas predicted to host common toads, as part of real-world applications requested by local authority staff in Nidderdale AONB (North Yorks, UK). |
| Title | Expert Opinion Habitat Use Scores for Bats |
| Description | Dataset consists of expert opinion scores for maternity roosting and foraging habitat quality for 77 different UK habitat types for common pipistrelle bat, collected in order to parameterise the Bat4pop model. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset was used to parameterise the model Bat4pop, which simulates bat foraging and population processes to predict spatially-explicit bat abundance and distribution for a given input landscape. The Bat4pop model predictions are being used by the Bat Conservation Trust to check the assumptions underlying the analysis procedures they use to derive national bat population trends from citizen science survey data collected through the National Bat Monitoring Programme's Field Survey. |
| Title | Expert Opinion Habitat Use Scores for Birds |
| Description | Dataset consists of expert opinion scores for nesting and foraging habitat quality for 77 different UK habitat types for four groups of birds (woodland specialists, woodland generalists, small farmland passerines, skylark), collected in order to parameterise the Bird4pop model. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset was used to parameterise the model Bird4pop, which simulates bird foraging and population processes to predict spatially-explicit bird abundance and distribution for a given input landscape. |
| Title | Expert Opinion Habitat Use Scores for Reptiles |
| Description | Dataset consists of expert opinion scores for basking and foraging habitat quality for 77 different UK habitat types for common lizard, collected in order to parameterise the Rept4pop model. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset was used to parameterise the model Rept4pop, which currently simulates common lizard foraging and population processes to predict spatially-explicit common lizard abundance and distribution for a given input landscape. The model has already been used to target citizen science survey effort in Northern Ireland towards areas predicted to host common lizards, as part of real-world applications requested by project partner ARG UK. |
| Title | Rept4pop |
| Description | Rept4pop is a process-based model that simulates the foraging and population processes of reptiles to predicted spatially-explicit reptile abundance and foraging distributions for a given input landscape using a combination of expert-derived habitat use scores and literature estimates for reproductivity, survival and movement ranges. The model is currently parameterised for common lizard. Its predictions have been validated against observed common lizard abundances recorded by SARG's volunteer surveyors at their Long-term Reptile Monitoring Sites. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The model has already been used to target citizen science survey effort in Northern Ireland towards areas predicted to host common lizards, as part of real-world applications requested by project partner ARG UK. Currently preparing an academic paper for publication which will present the model and its validation and which will link to a repository where the model will be freely available for others to download and use. |
| Title | Toad Habitat Use Data collected through Toad Patroller Survey |
| Description | Contains data on toad habitat use as reported by Froglife's Toad Patrols based on their observations of which habitats their migrating toads appear to come from. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Dataset has been used to validate the Amph4pop model's predictions for common toad habitat use. It's also been used to inform importance and accessibility for common toad populations of habitats facing proposed land-use change, as a result of requests for this information from Froglife's volunteer Toad Patrols. |
| Description | Bat Conservation Trust |
| Organisation | Bat Conservation Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in process-based modelling. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in bat ecology. Expertise in the analysis and interpretation of bat data. Access to National Bat Monitoring Programme datasets. Distributing and responding to expert opinion questionnaire collecting information on bat habitat preferences. |
| Impact | Process-based model (Bat4pop) simulating the foraging and population processes of bats, capable of producing spatially-explicit, temporally-resolved predictions of landscape use by bats, parameterised for Common Pipistrelle using a combination of expert opinion and literature data, and validated against observational datasets of relative bat activity collected across multiple sites in the UK via the National Bat Monitoring Programme. Spatially-explicit predictions of bat activity across a variety of landscapes, which enable the Bat Conservation Trust to test the robustness of their current chosen methodologies for relating on-the-ground bat activity measurements to local bat population levels. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | British Trust for Ornithology |
| Organisation | British Trust for Ornithology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in process-based modelling. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in bird ecology. Expertise in the analysis and interpretation of bird data. Access to Breeding Bird Survey datasets. Distributing and responding to expert opinion questionnaire collecting information on bird habitat preferences. |
| Impact | Process-based model (Bird4pop) simulating the foraging and population processes of passerine birds, capable of producing spatially-explicit, temporally-resolved predictions of landscape use by birds, parameterised for woodland specialists, woodland generalists and small farmland passerines using a combination of expert opinion and literature data, and validated against observational datasets of relative bird abundance collected across multiple sites in the UK via the Breeding Bird Survey. Seminar to BTO research staff sharing research aims/results and enabling knowledge exchange. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Going beyond Ecosystem Services to take a Multi-lens approach to Landscape Decisions |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | ELG is a co-author on a paper (in prep) setting out the need to move beyond the ecosystem services concept and take a multi-lens approach in order to make better and more effective land-use decisions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-authors on a paper (in prep) setting out the need to move beyond the ecosystem services concept and take a multi-lens approach in order to make better and more effective land-use decisions. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration spanning physical sciences, environmental sciences, ecology/biological sciences, geography, social science and the perspectives of artists. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Co-created and presented an interactive online public engagement event about current research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-created an interactive online public engagement event, facilitating introductions with creative collaborators and organising the practical aspects of event publicity etc. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration involving myself (ecologist and physical scientist), the festival organisers (public engagement professionals), professional creative writers and local conservation volunteers. The collaboration produced: - a 2-hour online interactive public engagement event showcasing current research and exploring its potential real-world impacts, which took place on 22nd October 2021. - an online, free to watch, publicly available recording of the live-streamed event - four co-created poems - two co-created comedy spots - one co-created interactive story |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Pathways to achieving net zero carbon emissions |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | ELG is a co-author on an advisory document for Defra (in prep) outlining pathways to achieving net zero through better landscape decisions, including beneficial land-use choices and the need to embrace ethics and system change to successfully enact these. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-authors on an advisory document for Defra (in prep) outlining pathways to achieving net zero through better landscape decisions, including beneficial land-use choices and the need to embrace ethics and system change to successfully enact these. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration spanning physical, environmental and biological sciences, geography, economics, ethics and art. Draft manuscript due to be completed 26th March. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | University of Gloucestershire |
| Organisation | University of Gloucestershire |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Ecological knowledge. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Knowledge of the planning system and planning policies. |
| Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration - ecology and urban planning. Outputs: 1 publication in the Town and Country Planning Association Journal (Nov/Dec 2022 edition) available on the webpage https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/11918/ and 1 video available on the webpage https://planningfortomorrow.rtpi.org.uk/series_partners/landscape-decisions-programme/ |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Woodland Trust |
| Organisation | Woodland Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Expertise in species responses to woodland cover. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Woodland creation motivators and priorities across UK. On-the-ground experience of woodland creation. On-the-ground case study locations where woodland creation initiatives are planned or currently ongoing. Communications with the general public. |
| Impact | Authored and article for Woodland Trust's magazine 'Wood Wise' (https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/publications/2021/12/wood-wise-creating-tomorrows-woods/). |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Amphibian and Reptile Virtual Lab |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Monthly online meeting for researchers, practitioners and students engaged in research and conservation of amphibians and reptiles to discuss research directions and current evidence needs of practitioners and policymakers. This has facilitated data sharing, data gathering, knowledge exchange, widening of engagement networks, strengthening of links between research and practice, creation of joint publications (both academic and public-facing), development of new research and on-the-ground conservation projects, increased invitations to present research findings at practitioner-focused events, identified opportunities for increasing research impact and enabled research findings/developments to inform decision-making in a wider range of circumstances and geographic localities. These meetings have been used to share progress on model development and incorporate ARG UK's steer/expertise into model development/validation and facilitate their input on identifying potential real-world applications for the models developed in this research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Landscape Decisions Programme Interdisciplinary Writing Groups |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participated in online writing groups organised by the Landscape Decisions Programme Co-ordination Team created to produce accessible publications bringing an interdisciplinary perspective on the policy challenges addressed by Landscape Decisions Programme researchers. Outcomes: Cole, B., Saratsi E., Earnshaw, K., Willcock, S., Gardner, E., Bradley, A., Fremantle, C., Bezant, J., Finan, J., Ziv, G., Balzter, H. (Under review) Landscape Decisions to Meet Net Zero Carbon: Pathways that consider ethics, socio-ecological diversity, and landscape functions. Landscape Decisions Report. Cole, B., Bradley A.V., Willcock S., Gardner E., Allinson E., Hagen-Zanker A., Calo A.J., Touza J., Petrovskii S., Yu J., Whelan M. (In review) A new multi-lens framework for landscape decisions - addressing the limitations of the Ecosystem Service approach. Submitted to People and Nature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Magazine Article (Natterchat) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to write an article about joint research with Froglife for their twice-yearly magazine, which features news, research, stories and practical tips focused on conserving reptiles and amphibians. The magazine is sent out to Froglife's members and conservation volunteers and is also free to view online by the general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Magazine Article (Oxford Science and Ideas Festival) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Magazine article promoting public engagement event 'Freedom of Movement: how do animals get around in our modern world', which was inspired by current research and took place as part of the Oxford Festival of Science and Ideas. Article explained the research and science ideas behind the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://if-oxford.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IF-2021-PROGRAMME.pdf |
| Description | Magazine Article (Wood Wise) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to write an article about current research project, highlighting the complexities around choosing the 'best' locations for new woodlands, for the Woodland Trust's quarterly magazine 'Wood Wise'. The magazine is designed to feature the news and science behind the Woodland Trust's tree and woodland conservation work. Outcomes: Invited to give a talk to the Southern Region Parks & Open Spaces Advisory Group of the Association for Public Service Excellence, as a result of their Principal Advisor for the Southern Region reading this article. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/50500/wood-wise-autumn-2021-creating-tomorrows-woods.pdf |
| Description | Model Development Meetings (BCT) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Periodic meetings with project partners at the Bat Conservation Trust to share progress on model development and incorporate their steer/expertise into model development/validation and their input on identifying potential real-world applications for the model. Outcomes: BCT are currently using the bat activity predictions generated by our co-developed models to test the sensitivity of the statistical methodology they use to determine national trends in bat abundance from observational datasets, the results of which are used to inform policy decisions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Model Development Meetings (BTO) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Periodic meetings with project partners at the British Trust for Ornithology to share progress on model development and incorporate their steer/expertise into model development/validation and their input on identifying potential real-world applications for the model. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Modelling and Optimisation Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate in Modelling and Optimisation Working Group organised by Landscape Decisions Programme Co-ordination Team which is designed to bring together researchers in order to produce an academic paper and corresponding white paper for government detailing how mathematical optimisation approaches can be applied to improve landscape decision-making in the UK. Attending first meeting of the Working Group from 16-19th April, with second meeting scheduled for 11-14th May. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Monthly Fellows Meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Monthly online meeting with the other research fellows funded through the Landscape Decisions Programme and members of the Programme Co-ordination Team in order to identify emerging research themes and findings across all fellowship projects and within the wider programme, with the aim of producing joint outputs making these findings accessible to other researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Outcomes: two publications are currently in development as a result. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Panel Discussion (Landscape Decisions Programme Workshop) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate in panel discussion at the Landscape Decision Programme's online workshop designed to bring researcher, practitioners and policymakers together to explore outstanding issues around landscape decision-making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://si.zohobackstage.eu/LandscapeDecisions |
| Description | Planning for Tomorrow's Environment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended Royal Town Planning Institute's event 'Planning for Tomorrow's Environment', which took place on 8th November 2022 at the Barbican Theatre (London, UK). The event launched their digital series 'Planning for Tomorrow's Environment', which explores the role of planning in tackling climate change and paving the way to a sustainable future. The event was attended by professional planners, the Chair of the Planning Officers Society Board, the Chair of the Commonwealth Association of Planners Young Planners Network and Co-Chair of the UN-Habitat Planners for Climate Action Initiative, as well as representatives from Exeter City Futures, Energiesprong UK, Atkins, the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, Chapman Taylor Architects, the Landscape Decisions Programme, Ramboll, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at UWE Bristol, and Wates Developments (part of the Wates Group). Clips from our video (https://planningfortomorrow.rtpi.org.uk/series_partners/landscape-decisions-programme/) featuring our research were shown during the event and I shared findings from, and answered questions about, our research during the networking session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.rtpi.org.uk/news/2022/november/rtpi-digital-series-champions-the-power-of-planning-for-a... |
| Description | Presentation (AAB Pollinator Conference) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a 15min in-person presentation in Slough on 7th September about research into pollinator natural capital accounting at the conference 'Shaping the Future for Pollinators - Innovations in Farmed Landscapes' which was co-organised by the Association for Applied Biologists, the Royal Entomological Society and the British Ecological Society. This led to discussions about future work with people at my institute who I hadn't yet met, people I had worked with previously at other institutions, people I had not previously collaborated with and external stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.aab.org.uk/event/shaping-the-future-for-pollinators-innovations-in-farmed-landscapes/ |
| Description | Presentation (APSE Southern Region Parks & Open Spaces Advisory Group Meeting) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited online talk given (on 20th Jan 2022) to Southern Region Parks & Open Spaces Advisory Group of APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) about woodland creation (specifically, the benefits and consequences of woodland creation, deciding where to locate new woodlands, and the benefits of creating woodlands in association with other habitats). APSE is a not-for-profit organisation and an APSE Advisory group is a meeting of 15-25 officers and members from local authorities across the UK to share good practice and service delivery ideas. Feedback after the talk indicated the audience had found it interesting and informative, with one audience member later reporting via email, 'Thank you for your presentation for APSE yesterday, it was most enlightening and I'm sharing the information with the rest of our team.'. There were also two subsequent enquiries about taking part in our current research project, which helps land managers explore woodland creation possibilities, as case study areas. Talk slides were made available for participants to view and download after the event at: https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/assets/File/Combined%20slides%20-%20Parks%20AG%2020Jan2022.pdf |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.apse.org.uk/apse/index.cfm/members-area/regions/southern/advisory-groups-and-events/ |
| Description | Presentation (Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK AGM) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give an online 20min presentation (given on 24th Feb 2022) on our co-developed toad and lizard models to members of the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK and their international colleagues (https://www.arguk.org/get-involved/events/45-arg-uk-2022-annual-general-meeting-agm-with-special-guest-speakers). The presentation generated multiple questions from both UK and international members of the audience, which were answered live and via the chat/Q&A function. The following day, an audience member emailed inviting me to give a similar presentation in July this year at the Reptile and Amphibian Working Group Conference being organised by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Another audience member subsequently got in contact requesting toad model predictions for Nidderdale, UK, to help target citizen science survey effort in their community conservation project project 'Saving Nidderdale's Priority Ponds', which is a joint project involving Freshwater Habitats Trust and the Nidderdale AONB. A recording of the presentation is now available to view on demand at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD_-ECdhC70. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/iD_-ECdhC70 |
| Description | Presentation (BIAZA RAWG) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave invited on-line presentation at British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Reptile and Amphibian Working Group conference on 29th July 2022 sharing details of our research into how the UK's native amphibians and reptiles might be affected by future policy-driven land-use changes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://biaza.org.uk/events/detail/biaza-reptile-and-amphibian-working-group-conference-2 |
| Description | Presentation (Banbury Ornithological Society) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gave an in-person invited presentation to members of Banbury Ornithological Society (BOS) on 11th May 2022. The title of the talk was 'What might the Government's tree planting targets mean for our birds?'. The talk featured our current research, building models of how birds use landscapes in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology, and also emphasised the importance of incorporating local knowledge, as collated by members of BOS and other similar groups. After the talk, there was a facilitated discussion with the audience about how tree planting may benefit/dis-benefit birds on BOS's local patch. Much positive feedback was received in person from members of the audience who had found the talk interesting and informative and one audience member subsequently emailed 'A message to thank you very much for your excellent talk to BOS last Monday: most interesting and thought provoking'. There was also an in-person request to collaborate to assist BOS's work on curlew conservation and a staff member from EarthWatch subsequently emailed to arrange a meeting to discuss their 'Tiny Forest' initiative after hearing about a conversation I had had about this with one of the audience members who is also a supporter of EarthWatch. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.banburyornithologicalsociety.org.uk/index.php/meetings/indoor-meeting-11-may-2022 |
| Description | Presentation (Biodiversity Get Together) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave an invited an online talk on 1st Feb 2022 to Biodiversity Science Area (comprised of UKCEH colleagues based across GB) about models developed during research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation (Biological Records Centre, UKCEH) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give online presentation to other researchers, sharing current research aims and progress to date. Outcomes: researchers in the audience facilitated introductions to relevant stakeholder organisations, who subsequently became project partners contributing data and expertise to the research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation (British Trust for Ornithology) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to present research via online presentation to BTO staff and students, followed by a Q&A. The presentation shared current research aims and progress to date and invited staff to contribute their expertise to the project. Outcomes: Staff contributed expertise and completed an expert opinion questionnaire that was used in model development and parameterisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation (Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science Seminar) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a 12min invited talk on 26th October 2022 as part of the Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science online seminar seminar series at the session entitled 'Data Challenges in Green Finance' about our collaborative work investigating how the interests of biodiversity are currently represented within Biodiversity Net Gain policy (and landscape decision-making more generally in the UK) and how this might be improved going forwards. Also participated in the group discussion afterwards, answering questions from the audience. The Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science comprises researchers from Lancaster University and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Positive feedback from the audience members was posted in the chat, including 'excellent talks and slides, very interesting' and 'Thank you all for your excellent presentations and answers, it's given me a lot to think about!'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://ceeds.ac.uk/news/ceeds-seminar-data-challenges-green-finance-wednesday-26th-october-200-330p... |
| Description | Presentation (Fellowship Project Video) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Online recorded presentation giving an accessible introduction to the research project for policy-makers and practitioners, publicly available and free to view on demand. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWXyEsAmlFw |
| Description | Presentation (Healthy Ecosystem Restoration Oxfordshire) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a live-streamed in-person presentation about current research to University of Oxford researchers and project partners involved in the Healthy Ecosystem Restoration Oxfordshire project. Talk was given on 24th March at Oxford University and involved sharing our latest findings on the limitations of current biodiversity metrics and the need for better approaches to measure and represent biodiversity responses to landscape change. Received requests to give further talks on our findings, plus invitations to collaborate on other projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation (International Association for Landscape Ecology) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Online presentation to share current research with other researchers, policymakers and practitioners at IALE's conference on The Landscape Ecology of Forests, Woodlands and Trees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://iale.uk/conference2021 |
| Description | Presentation (Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a 45min in-person presentation to Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society (whose members carry out self-directed voluntary work within their villages to support their local wildlife) on 5th October 2022 about current research project, with a focus on how government tree-planting targets might affect UK wildlife. After the talk, there were questions from the audience and a discussion about tree-planting projects in their local area and the various ways tree planting might benefit/disadvantage their local wildlife in particular. The chairman of the Society subsequently emailed saying 'A VERY BIG thank you for your lecture last night. It was packed with solid fascinating science, relevant to us here in Kirtlington in many ways, and very professionally delivered.' and further meetings with members of the committee were arranged to explore how the models we have been developing in our research project might be applied in their local area to help them identify conservation opportunities and engage landowners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://kirtlingtonvillage.co.uk/kwacs/kwacs-programme |
| Description | Presentation (Leicester University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited online talk about current research project given (on 26th Jan 2022) to staff and students based at the School of Geography, Geology and Environment at the University of Leicester as part of their Research Seminar Series. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation (Reading University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited online talk given (on 20th Jan 2022) to researchers and students of Reading University's School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, as part of their Agri-Food Economics and Marketing (AEM) departmental seminar series. Talk examined the potential and limitations of pollinator natural capital metrics for informing decision-making. It generated questions and discussion afterwards, requests for copies of publications, widened the network of researchers aware of our research project and initiated exploration of future collaborative work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation (Royal Geographical Society) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a 15min online talk on 1st September 2022 at the Royal Geographical Society's Annual International Conference as part of the hybrid session 'Rural Landscape, Nature and Social Recoveries: Problems and Potentialities', which was organised to showcase a range of research funded by the Landscape Decisions Programme, and answered questions afterwards from the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.rgs.org/research/annual-international-conference/ |
| Description | Presentation (Royal Holloway University of London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave an invited in-person talk about current research on 9th November 2022 to staff and students based at the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway (University of London) as part of their Research Seminar Series. Also took part in a 'Meet the Speaker' session afterwards, which a session intended to enable early career researchers to chat to speakers more informally about their career paths. Lots of questions and positive feedback was received after the talk, including subsequent email exchanges with Royal Holloway staff members to exchange research findings and contacts. The 'Meet the Speaker' session was attended by PhD students, Masters students and a first year undergraduate student who were very enthusiastic and keen to engage and ask questions. One student also subsequently emailed for research advice and to arrange a chat over Teams about working in environmental science. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/biological-sciences/events... |
| Description | Presentation (Royal Statistical Society) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to present current research on using statistics to inform landscape decision making as part of an invited session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://rss.org.uk/training-events/events/events-2021/conferences/rss-2021-international-conference/ |
| Description | Presentation (South East Regional Amphibian and Reptile Groups Meeting) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give an in-person presentation at the South East Regional Amphibian and Reptile Groups Meeting on 8th October 2022 to share the results of our collaborative research project with members of groups affiliated with Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK). The audience included members who had helped us to develop and validate the models featured in the presentation by sharing their datasets and knowledge gained through their voluntary conservation activities. Several audience members asked for access to the models when they are finished and released, so that they can use them to predict amphibian/reptile habitat use in their local areas, and model predictions will be provided to those who subsequently emailed asking for early release estimates to assist with current local decision-making. The meeting organiser subsequently emailed saying 'Can I just thank you for a wonderfully informative presentation on Saturday' and plans were made for future collaborative work, including arranging for some of the ARG UK volunteers who spoke at the meeting to visit our research institute in order to facilitate knowledge exchange on conservation approaches that both UKCEH and the ARGs are actively researching. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.arguk.org/get-involved/events/47-south-east-args-regional-meeting-restoring-ecosystems-a... |
| Description | Presentation (Toad Patroller Feedback Event) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Online event including a presentation, during which research findings were shared with the volunteer recorders who had contributed data, and a discussion session, during which the volunteers contributed to data interpretation and shared their views on the current evidence needs of on-the-ground conservationists. A recording of the event is publicly available and free to view online. Outcomes: several volunteer groups requested model simulations for their sites in order to better understand the drivers of changing conditions on the ground, the impacts of future land-use changes on the toad populations they conserve and to help inform their conservation actions. A summary of everyone's contributions to the discussion was distributed to event participants and bespoke documents addressing individual evidence concerns were created and distributed to the relevant volunteer groups. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81u6gy0LKTo |
| Description | Presentation (Toad Summit) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give an online 20min presentation (given on 5th Feb 2022) on toad model and research to members of the general public and Froglife Toad Patrol volunteers at the South-East Toad Summit (which included participants from across the country) and to facilitate a break-out discussion room during the event. Presentation generated multiple questions from the audience which were answered verbally, in the chat, during the break-out discussion session and also after the event via email. The event organisers (Froglife) reported they would now discuss with land owners & managers the possibility of creating linking terrestrial habitats in addition to their planned pond restoration works as a result of model predictions for toad habitat use and connectivity that were calculated for these ponds and presented during the talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation (Use of optimisation for supporting biodiversity) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presented our research on the use and limitations of computational optimisation for supporting biodiversity to officials from Defra and the Cabinet Office in a hybrid meeting on 23rd February 2023 and took part in discussions on how optimisation techniques could help to support their evidence needs and policy development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation (Working with Natural Processes / Nature-based Solutions) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave 5min on-line presentation about current research to colleagues researching natural processes and nature-based solutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation and Panel Discussion (Climate Exp0 Conference) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to present current research and participate in a panel discussion at Climate Exp0, the COP26 Universities Network first virtual conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/cop26/climate-exp0-conference/ |
| Description | Research-user Training (Interpretation and Visualisation of Model Predictions) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | One-to-one training to share skills in interpretation and use of species/habitat predictions (generated by models co-developed within current research project) with ARG UK's on-the-ground conservation staff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Research-user Training (Modelling Skills) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | One-to-one training to share skills in modelling ARG UK's in-house observational datasets on species abundance with ARG UK's student volunteers. This consists of periodic online meetings with students, which not only increases ARG UK's volunteers' modelling skills, but also increases the students' experience of research and their mini projects enable exploration of potential future research areas/collaborations that align with both ARG UK's conservation interests and emerging research directions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Website (Fellowship Project) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Webpage introducing the research project's aims. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| URL | https://landscapedecisions.org/how-many-trees-should-we-plant-and-where/ |
| Description | Workshop (Common Lizard Conservation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Online workshop to review the current status and evidence needs for common lizard conservation in the UK, including available datasets and the role of modelling and current research in assessing and addressing challenges to common lizard conservation. Outcomes: Additional datasets were made available to validate existing models and model predictions were provided for new areas with limited common lizard data in order to help direct survey efforts. Subsequent one-to-one training was arranged to share skills in interpretation and use of model predictions with ARG UK's on-the-ground conservation staff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Workshop (Policy Masterclass) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Attended Policy Masterclass workshop (on 18 October 2022 hybrid London-based + online event), which was jointly organised by the Landscape Decisions Programme and the UK Government's Open Innovation Team during which government officials outlined how and why civil servants search for academics and their research and how we can assist them to do this. This prompted me and my colleagues to discuss how this process could be improved to increase inclusivity and avoid the institutional and social biases inherent in the current search practices those civil servants use, which are likely limiting the types of academics and research outputs those civil servants are encountering. As a result, we intend to organise a reciprocal event to help junior civil servants feel more comfortable about reaching out to the research community when gathering evidence and we are considering how a database of researchers and their research interests might be developed to assist with this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Workshop (Research into Policy) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Attended Research into Policy workshop (on 15th June 2022 in-person in London), which was jointly organised by the Landscape Decisions Programme and the UK Government's Open Innovation Team. Gave 5min presentation about research and talked to officials from Defra and BEIS about the use of research to inform land-use policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Workshop (Supergen Bioenergy Hub) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate in online workshop 'Land-use decision-making for biomass crop deployment: bridging the gap between national targets and field scale decisions' due to the use of woods and short-rotation coppice for bioenergy generation. Contributed on biodiversity impacts/considerations around expanding bioenergy crop production. Outcomes: All comments contributed during the workshop will be compiled into a report made publicly available on the Supergen Bioenergy Hub's website (supergen-bioenergy.net). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/workshop-land-use-decision-making-for-biomass-crop-deployment-tickets-2... |